David West wears enough musical hats to fill a small haberdashery -- under his own name, Total Control, and Liberation, to name a few -- and Rat Columns is his outlet for guitar-heavy, super hooky, melodic indie rock and pop. Previous albums have been sludgy or epic or tilted closer to the off-kilter pop of his solo work; 2021's Pacific Kiss is the group's most immediate and satisfying yet. West and a small band recorded the basic tracks in Brooklyn, then headed to Australia where old mate Mikey Young pitched in to mix the record and add a few heavy guitar solos. The result is something sleek and punchy, sounding like what might happen if a Sarah Records band had a decent recording budget, or if the Mighty Lemon Drops didn't. West surrounds his wispy, forlorn vocals with walls of electric guitars, strummed with graceful restraint or attempting to burst from the speakers like a loose spring in an old couch. Whether the songs have a loping gait that lifts the spirits like "Hey! I Wanna Give You the World," which bounds merrily like an early Teenage Fanclub song, or a gloomy slowcore center like "She's Coming Home," West and crew make everything sound nostalgically fresh and exciting. The energy flowing out of tracks like the tough garage rock of "Soul Kiss I" is bracing, the towering jangle of "It's Your Time (To Suffer Now)" is as cozy as a familiar blanket, and the synthy "No Stranger to Life'' features classic male/female duet vocals and cleanly captures an epic cinematic feel. When the band stretch out a little, like they do on the lengthy "Athens" -- which unspools majestically on a pillow of twinkling guitars and aquatic dynamics -- or "Soul Kiss II" -- which starts off sparse and damaged like Felt circa "Space Blues" then explodes into grungy guitars and pleading vocals -- the results are just as impressive. Seeing David West's name attached to a band is basically all the information one needs to know it's going to be something good, and this time around it's on something that verges on greatness. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi

1		Hey! I Wanna Give You the World
2		It's Your Time (To Suffer)
3		I Can't Live on Love
4		No Stranger to Life
5		Candlelight
6		She's Coming Home
7		Feeding the Fire
8		Soul Kiss I
9		Athens
10		Soul Kiss II

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